Successful CeQuInt Panel Members Day

On Friday 3 May 2013, the CeQuInt Panel Members Day took place. Both experts and coordinators met in the offices of AQ Austria in Vienna.
The goal of the CeQuInt Panel Members Day was to provide both the selected experts and the coordinators of CeQuInt's pilot procedures with the necessary background regarding the project, the pilot procedures and the assessment frameworks.
The main aim of bringing the experts and coordinators together was of course to increase consistency between the pilot procedures. In order to further increase consistency, each of the selected experts will also take part in three pilot procedures. The day kicked off with a welcome word by Achim Hopbach, the Director of our host AQ Austria and current president of ENQA. He gave a brief introduction to the state of affairs of QA and AQ Austria.
The rest of day different topics were discussed, starting off with the rationale, activities and intended outcomes of the CeQuInt project. This was followed by an introduction to the pilot procedures. Here the focus was on the procedural steps and on the functionning of the panels, including the roles of each of the participants. The pièce de resistance were the frameworks, including the standards and criteria. Here, the guidelines document and an outline on how to substantiate assessment reports guided all the discussions.
The Panel Members Day led to lively and very positive debates. These dedicated panel members are not affraid to voice their opinion, but when they do, this is done by suggesting improvements. Everything we expect of peers, since this enhancement-led perspective is what quality assurance should be about.